Consumer Product

Unity and Prosperity Medical Center

webadmin — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 10:12:55 +0000

Unity and Prosperity Medical Center webadmin Wed, 09/23/2020 - 12:12

An antenatal care service provider that will help expectant mothers living in refugee communities access safe delivery services within their community to solve the problem of long distances to the nearest health facilities through establishment of mobile antenatal clinics

Introduction

UPMCs social mission is to provide accessible and quality ANC services to expectant mothers within refugee settlements and host community.

The UPMC service is to help expectant mothers aged 18-35 based in refugee settlements who want to attend antenatal care by reducing the high transport cost to a health facility caused by long distances and providing antenatal services closer to them thus enabling safe delivery in the health facilities.

Expectant mothers aged 18-35 live in a refugee settlement that has few health facilities that are distant-12 km apart thus increasing the risk of maternal death. Currently, the expectant mothers are walking long distances to visit health facilities for Antenatal Care visits and hiring motorcycles which are expensive. If we reduced transport costs through providing low-cost mobile antenatal care services in multiple locations closer to the expectant mothers and thereafter referring them to equipped health facilities for specialized treatment then we'll observe increased follow up ANC visits and reduced maternal deaths within the settlements.

Progress and Results

Needs Assessment: From the experiment, 654 community members attended the session with 126 expectant mothers and teenage girls (18 year olds) in attendance who participated to acquire more knowledge. The experiment target sed distant settlements to address the challenges affecting expectant mothers. There was one labour bed in the settlement camp; Few health workers in settlements; the Ambulance doesn’t respond to medical emergencies with urgency and Some expectant mothers do not want to go to the health facilities because of language barrier
Provision of Antenatal Care Services: Through this experiment, the team wanted to learn whether the antenatal initiative limited proposed services like; malaria, syphilis and HIV screening, abdominal and general examination, health and nutrition education and referral etc will be achieved through support of VHTs who conduct activities not limited to identifying and mapping and mobilization among others
They’re also discovering if the bicycle/motor bike as transportation means would enable us access our clients easily and reduce the cost of implementation. By this, they hope to be in position to offer last mile accessible and quality ANC care and basic healthcare to the within and without community.

Challenges and Lessons Learnt

The long distance covered by the expecting mothers from their homes to the health facilities, expensive health care services, limited knowledge on the value of Antenatal Care Services to mention but a few have been the biggest barriers to the work the team is doing.

Poker Card

webadmin — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 10:03:35 +0000

Poker Card webadmin Wed, 09/23/2020 - 12:03

A card book that will promote inclusiveness by helping deaf women and youths acquire primary Health care knowledge on HIV/AIDs through graphics, illustrations and images that can be understood by the deaf.

Introduction

PokerCard is helping deaf persons aged 10 – 35 years who want to seek primary Healthcare knowledge on HIV/AIDS by providing graphic illustrations to enable them interpret HIV/AIDS awareness messages and achieving health inclusiveness.

Sexually active deaf persons (aged 13 – 35 years) in the greater Northern Uganda are having difficulties in interpreting HIV/AIDS awareness messages. Currently, they’re using sign language interpreters, but PokerCard is offering a simplified and easy – to – understand graphic illustrations which is making both the illiterate and literate deaf persons to even further understand and interpret HIV/AIDS awareness messages. This is promoting access to equitable primary healthcare information regarding HIV/AIDS.

Progress and Results

The team has held various experiments with the deaf community within Kitgum to help them understand their needs in regards to accessing and interpreting information on HIV/AIDS before they can scale their solution

Needs Assessment: We want to learn whether deaf persons understand HIV/AIDS preventive information given to them in graphics illustrations. Results from the experiment reveal that 8 out of 10 deaf adults were able to accurately interpret the graphic illustrations; 5 out of 10 deaf children were able to interpret the graphic illustrations and Youth aged 17-37 have better pictorial interpretation compared to children below 17 years
Graphic interpretation by deaf people: The purpose of this experiment was to discover whether deaf persons aged 17 years and above can interpret HIV/AIDS information presented in graphic visuals. The participants were able to interpret the HIV/AIDS messages presented in graphic illustrations with an average of 83% of the participants interpreting the graphic illustrations for the four thematic areas of; Limiting the number of sexual partners, getting tested and knowing your partner’s HIV status, using a condom correctly every time you have sex, and avoiding sharing sharp instruments like; shavers, razor blades, toothbrush, injection needles.
Testing HIV/AIDS knowledge in the control group (hearing people who associates with deaf person): Through this experiment, the team wanted to want to learn about the HIV/AIDS knowledge gap among the hearing people who associates with Deaf person (control group). On average, the participants were able to score over the pass mark of 50% implying that the hearing people who associate with deaf person will have a wider knowledge on HIV/AIDS because of the intense verbal media campaign on HIV/AIDS over the years.
Assessing the proficiency of Uganda Sign Language (USL) in HIV/AIDS education: Through this experiment, the team intended to learn whether deaf persons in Kitgum district, aged 17 years and above are fluent/proficient in USL in regard to HIV/AIDS education.

Challenges and Lessons Learnt

Difference in the sign language used by the deaf community in northern Uganda in comparison to the nationally recognized Universal Sign Language(USL) making it hard for the deaf community to interpret messages curated for scale purposes

File Upload

Poker Card Fact Sheet.pdf

Platform 503

webadmin — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 09:58:12 +0000

Platform 503 webadmin Wed, 09/23/2020 - 11:58

A music dance and drama group which creates ‘’you-change skits’’ that help young women, adolescent girls and young people affected by conflict in refugee and host communities access user friendly information on the causes, prevention and strategies to end gender based violence through audio/visual context appropriate customer inclusive, educative and entertaining short plays.

Introduction

Platform 503’s You Change Skits will help young adolescents, teenage mothers and community members who want to access information on causes, effects and ways of preventing GBV by introducing informative, family friendly, fun packed short video clips/live drama on GBV and increasing awareness thus reducing cases of GBV in communities.

Platform 503 intends to promote behaviour change among young people and communities by providing access to relevant information on gender based violence and support services for GBV victims, through user friendly You Change Skits there by reducing the high cases of GBV in refugee settlements and host districts.

Ketura , a 19 year old teenage mother living in imvepi refugee settlement is always beaten by her husband. Currently radio pacis plays audio drama in Lugbarati a language keturah and her man do not understand. But if we run an informative, fun packed , short video clips / live drama campaign in different local languages spoken and understood in west nile , then we will increase awareness on GBV to a larger number of people and reduce cases of GBV in refugee /host communities.

Progress and Results

The team has documented and recorded a series of you change skit on the causes and prevention of GBV. The feedback from the experiments has been incorporated into the skit and played again to potential referral partners for their approval.

a)Needs Assessment: The conducted a discovery on the effectiveness of the You Change Skits among key stakeholders in Imvepi Refugee Settlement and Logiri Sub county in Arua district. The outcomes included Most cases that were highlighted by the community were attributed to alcohol and drug abuse; Only a few women could openly speak about their own personal experiences with GBV; The Aruba culture prohibits GBV reporting hence victims are afraid to break the cultural norm & Forced marriages are one of the leading causes of men being abusive towards the women.
Experiment on using a cinema hall and open community centre to drive action among survivors: This experiment was to test whether playing you change skits in cinema halls will lead to increased access to information and referral services in the community
Partnership with referral actors due to the messaging in the community: The purpose of this experiment was to discover whether the messaging in the you change skits can enable building referral partnerships in the community
Mainstream and community radio as a channel of broadcasting You Change Skits: The purpose of this experiment was to discover if playing themed You Change Skits audio productions on gender based violence will lead to
Increased access to GBV related information; Increased referral services for survivors in the community on GBV cases; Reduction in GBV cases

Challenges and Lessons Learnt

From the experiments, it came to light that some of the participants required immediate professional counselling; many community members (Elders, children) are affected by GBV; the community was more open to speak about their personal experiences with GBV after the skits; Music plays a big role in capturing the attention of the community; some cases can be avoided if there is less confrontation between spouses; the community was excited by the creative approach of the team and it was more responsive to the influencers compared to local leaders.

The team still needs to figure out how to differentiate their work from existing similar initiatives like like Reach A Hand's edutainment shows; form partnerships with police, GBV organisations to address referral issues during outreaches; Expand the content of the skits to address other issues of prevention and access to GBV services as well as Changing skit prototype based on community feedback

File Upload

Platform 503 Fact Sheet.pdf

iKitty Life

webadmin — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 09:48:58 +0000

iKitty Life webadmin Wed, 09/23/2020 - 11:48

A service that helps young men and women living in rural and refugee settlements to access affordable family planning services by reducing the distance and associated costs through a last mile distribution network of village health teams.

Introduction

iKitty’s social mission is to reduce the high statistics of unintended pregnancies and STIs among teenagers and young people. It aspires to change this narrative by using locally based networks of VSLA groups and VHTs to provide mobile distribution of safe contraceptives and menstrual supplies.
Teenagers and young people have challenges accessing contraceptives in their neighborhood. Currently, they’re faced with stigma, long distance and high costs in accessing contraceptives, but if we use the networks of existing friendly VHTs and VSLA groups in their own neighborhoods to provide mobile distribution of safe and affordable contraceptives to them, then we’ll observe an increase in contraceptive uptake which reduces unintended pregnancies and STIs among teenagers and young people.

Progress and Results

During the experimentation period, the team focused on testing how the young men and women would prefer to be served the family planning commodities using village health teams. As such, they experimented with three male and two female distributors with various age groups. The commodities distributed include male condoms and emergency pills. Pregnancy test kits were also added to the stock.

The team learnt that using peers as VHTs to distribute commodities makes the service look user friendly, thus approachable

Needs Assessment: The team conducted an experiment to discover whether market opportunities exist in the VSLA groups and VHTs for distribution of contraceptives and whether teenagers/young people will be more comfortable using them as opposed to what currently exists.
Effectiveness of the Boda-Boda Model in the Last Mile Distribution of Contraceptives: The purpose of this experiment was learn whether Boda boda model distribution is effective to increase uptake of contraceptives by teenagers & young people. The team learnt that when target beneficiaries get the right information on contraceptives and when the service provider is youth friendly and hails from one of the villages, the fear in teenagers and young people is minimal hence proving boda boda and peet-to-peer distribution methods is effective.

Challenges and Lessons Learnt

Despite the team being very passionate about their project they do need a set of process-related skills for example: the ability to share responsibilities, manage time, set and meet deadlines and communicate effectively. Due to these observations the team is still falling behind in terms of group projects.

File Upload

iKitty Fact sheet.pdf

Babykit Company Limited

webadmin — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 09:41:05 +0000

Babykit Company Limited webadmin Wed, 09/23/2020 - 11:41

It is making low cost infant warmers using locally available raw materials to help new young mothers in refugee settlements to improve care for at-risk or premature babies

Introduction

BabyKit Company Limited’s social mission is to produce quality and unique products which are made out of the locally grown cotton that acts as a baby warmer to the new born babies (0-3 months) in Africa. The babykit sifo for newborns will help mothers living in refugee settlements/conflict areas who want to keep their new born babies aged 0– 3 months warm by providing low-cost and locally made cotton baby warmers at health care service delivery points in their locality thus reducing the risk of pneumonia

New mothers living in a refugee settlements or in conflict areas face a problem of infant ( (0 – 3 months) ) pneumonia because the mother cannot afford warm beddings and stays in a poorly constructed home. Currently, they’re using lighter pieces of cloth, lighter blankets which cannot provide adequate warmth to the baby. However the team has developed a low-cost and high-quality baby warmer product that consists of a sifo warmer and a blanket to the new mothers. This product is being provided at the health service delivery point during discharge. The team is observing a reduction in the number of pneumonia cases thus an improvement in maternal health.

Progress and Results

The team had many test areas based on feedback from the end user

a)The need: The team conducted a needs assessment to validate whether the discharge and pregnant mother in refugee/host community in refugee settlements that have been discharged from health facilities would take their baby warmer because newborn babies lack warm bedding to prevent them from coldness due to the poor housing structures. The feedback was positive with the target audience showing interest in the product
b)Affordability: The team conducted an experiment to validate whether discharge and pregnant mother in refugee/host community can afford to buy products at low cost- the outcome was positive i.e. discharge & pregnant mothers in refugee/host communities can afford to buy the babykit products
c)Distribution: Given the geographical locations of the health centers, discharge and pregnant mothers in refugee/host communities, the BabyKit team experimented on which channels to use to distribute their products to the target user. This involved leveraging the Village Health Teams community structures and the outcome was that they are willing to resell it and the margins from revenues they are willing to accept.
Marketing & Scale: To validate this test area, the team experimented on

The impact of a sales and payment plan on Packaged Sifo & Baby blanket products
How advertisement can create awareness for the packaged Sifo & baby blanket product and subsequently lead to an increase in the sales i.e. increase in the number of expecting mothers buying

Challenges and Lessons Learnt

Low supply versus high demand for cotton because few farmers in West Nile grow cotton; amount of time spent in sorting the cotton seeds and limited sewing machines pause challenges to the successful full scaling of the initiative. However, in order to overcome these challenges, the team has adopted an in house and outgrower model in which team members are being encouraged to grow cotton and have assured market while the same is being done for external farmers; for limited sewing machines, the team plans to invest in more sewing machines over time as the demand for the product increases

File Upload

BabyKit Fact Sheet.pdf

EcoSmart Uganda

webadmin — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 09:00:57 +0000

EcoSmart Uganda webadmin Wed, 09/23/2020 - 11:00

The EcoSmart pads are innovative products produced by EcoSmart Uganda, a social enterprise that envisions a new era for every African girl and hopes to increase access to affordable menstrual health supplies for every female.

Introduction

EcoSmart aims at: reducing school absenteeism for girls that miss school during their menstruation, reducing waste generated from disposable sanitary pads by utilizing natural materials and providing employment through local production of the EcoSmart pads.

Globally, there are 1.8 billion females in their reproductive age; unfortunately, millions of these females across the world are still denied the right to manage their menstrual period with dignity. In Uganda, a nationwide survey showed that only 35% of females aged 15 to 49 years were able to adequately meet their needs during Menstruation. According to the World Bank, about 20% of the households in Uganda are below the national poverty line. Daily expenses of these households may not cater for the purchase of sanitary pads so sanitary pads are a luxury especially for women from rural areas and vulnerable communities like refugee camps. As an alternative, these females resort to rudimentary options such as the use of old pieces of cloth, old foam mattresses, toilet paper, cloth rags and so on. This lack of appropriate materials is a high contributor to the level of school absenteeism for many adolescent girls according to the Adolescent Health Risk behaviors study conducted in 2017.

Therefore, for the wellbeing of women and girls especially those in underserved communities, there is a great need to access basic affordable materials to utilize during their menstruation. EcoSmart is producing eco-friendly affordable sanitary pads made using repurposed sugarcane residue to help women from low income backgrounds with hygienic high quality products that create equality in menstrual management.

Progress and Results

Research and development of the EcoSmart pads has been executed to achieve a cotton feel like material for use in the pads. The organization has set up a local manufacturing facility in western Uganda and has progressed from using the Uganda Industrial Research Institute facility in the processing of the sugarcane fiber. The product testing and certification of the sanitary napkins from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is underway. The product package of the sanitary pads has been assessed and approved by UNBS.

A total of 152 school girls were trained in 2019 in western Uganda on menstrual health and the girls were provided with underwear supplies to support them as they undergo menstruation.

Our team has conducted a study in 55 primary schools in western Uganda around the menstrual environment in primary schools in rural western Uganda, the study revealed the use of latrines to wash and change sanitary pads; almost of these latrines had a bad stench, dirty walls, no privacy and no locks. The team obtained expression of interest to conduct menstrual trainings and education.

Our team has hired four employees to support in local production and day to day operational activities of the organization.

Challenges and Lessons Learnt

The production process has been challenging for the team, we have locally fabricated the production equipment used because this machinery is not available locally. This has consumed a lot of time. Moving forward, we are moving in to certification of the products which seems to consume a lot of time but the team is working with consultants to ensure that this product is safe for all users and meets the needs of the users.

File Upload

Ecosmart fact sheet.pdf